Skelton History Group
Wednesday 21st March – Coal, Quakers, Railways & Ironstone

Distance: 3½ miles; Ascent 450ft; Duration: 3½-4 hours Meet at 10:30am outside Skelton Library, on Coniston Road, Skelton. The season opens with a circular walk that takes in Skelton, North Skelton and Hollybush. The heritage comes thick and fast: Frank Wild, Antarctic explorer; the lands of Robert de Brus; medieval trackways; Skelton’s coal mines; the Quaker burial ground; the last ironstone mine to close, at North Skelton; the railway station at North Skelton, and the Longacre ironstone mine.

The pace of the walks is leisurely, with regular stops to admire the view (especially when going uphill!) and to hear about the heritage around us.

A charge of £2 per person will be made on each walk to offset the costs of Insurance. Please wear appropriate footwear and have clothing suitable for the likely weather conditions on that day. It is suggested that you bring food and drink as we usually stop between midday and 1:00pm for a lunch break.

Further details can be had from: skeltonhistorygroup@gmail.com or by contacting Peter Appleton (Tel: 01287 281752)

The removal of a modern sign on a newsagents has revealed a sign for the Lending Library in Skelton, I suspect it won’t be visible for long before being painted over or covered again. I believe this building was once Whittaker’s Newsagents and Pay Lending Library.

Thanks to Dave Walsh and GhostsignsUK for both pointing this out to me.

Would anyone like to have a go at deciphering this one ? Paint has stayed on the sandstone parts but completely gone from the bricks (or they could be a later replacement)

I think it says “Wines and Spirits” at the bottom with the initials “W. A.”

Dave Walsh has discovered there was a Wine and Spirits merchant called “James Thompson Wood” living at this house in the 1901 census.

Bill Danby has come up with the following which certainly seems to fit sign.

From an immediate search of my website, the Parish Rate book of 1913 shows that the premises 5-7 High St were still occupied by James T Wood and owned by James Thompson. Rates were 13s 5d [about 67p] The Directory for 1937 shows that the shop was still a wine and spirit merchant, but now occupied by William Thubron.
In the 1940’s it was still Thubron’s and I would say the bottom half of the remaining letters look more like THUBRON than Wood or Dowson as suggested on your webpages.
I can personally vouch for the existence of this shop, as when I was aged about 9 in 1949, I went carol singing with my mate Maurice Ward. With the amazing 7 shillings earnings for sacred songs, we bought a bottle of port at Thubron’s and downed it between us and therefore had our very first hangovers. Did not stop us boozing though.
From memory Thubrons also had a shop in Manless Terrace, Skelton Green.
I cannot say when the businesses ceased to trade.